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Perspective Drawing

I was born and raised in the suburbs, with rural farmland and city centers nearby so I have an unbiased appreciation for both. I'm attuned to the natural elements around me and I love to be outdoors, but I also get so energized by the sights and sounds of the cities I visit or live in. And sketching...

One of my favorite still-life artists is G. Daniel Massad. He plays with space in an incredible way. His pastel paintings are stark, eerie, and lovely all at once. Above, Three Plums and Rosehip , 2005, pastel, 11 x 10 7/8. What I love best about still life painting is that I have absolute control—over...

Head of 12-year-old Christ by Albrecht Dürer, drawing, 1506. Adapted from an article by Dan Gheno. As you know from my previous blog about needing a GPS to draw heads --because I get more lost in the eyes, ears, mouth, and nose than you'd think would ever be possible--I am on the lookout for...

Thomas Van Stein's student stepped back, with the help of her instructor, to evaluate her work. A dapted from an article by Allison Malafronte. Amidst all the sights, sounds, and smells that swirl around you when plein air painting , you have to remember to step back and assess your work and give...

Air and Water: Blue Skies with Water in Shadow 2009-10, oil painting on canvas encased in lead, 72 3/4 x 52 x 2 1/2 in. All works by Adam Straus. Courtesy Nohra Haime Gallery. As an artist who has painted the natural world for over 20 years, Adam Straus has a complicated connection to his environment...

No matter the venue, the accepted rule of thumb is that a painting should always be hung just above eye level. As a result, many artists create paintings with this point of view. Living Room, Wide Angle and Kitchen by Mitchell Long, 22 x 28, oil on paper. Louisiana artist Mitchell Long seeks to subvert...

Another slice of my personal humble pie is the fact that I'm pretty bad at math in general and downright horrible at geometry in particular. You'd never ever find me trying to use these skills when making art--or so I thought. But when I was gleaning tips from watercolor artist Law Wai Hin on...

But that is exactly what makes them so powerful. I've never been more moved by seeing a work in person than I am when I see Kiefer's. They floor me. As I said in my other post on Kiefer , it certainly has to do, in part, with the fact that his work isn't picture perfect. And it also has to...

These four oil paintings have something in common. Yes, of course, they were all painted by George Inness (1825-1894), one of the greatest American landscape painters of all time. But there's something else, an incredibly valuable lesson. Have you spotted it yet? Clearing Up by George Inness, oil...

I used to waste oodles of time blocking in my plein air paintings until I finally learned some great tips for doing them fast, such as skipping the drawing, establishing the value range first, and addressing each set of values in a logical order. Here's how I do them now, which takes only about 10...

A photo of the plein air landscape site I chose to paint. I can still recall the first morning I saw this little bend in the river ike it was yesterday. The air was still cool and breezy, the sun was glinting off the water, the bees in their hive were humming—yes, it was everything a plein-air...

During a recent workshop in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, William Jameson provided instruction in plein air oil painting, but he knew it was just as important to offer encouragement and direction to students while they enjoyed the experience. by M. Stephen Doherty William Jameson beginning a demonstration...

With adequate preparation and the right materials, it's possible to create large acrylic landscapes en plein air. by Andrew Paquette A few years ago, I left the high-stress feature-animation industry in Hollywood, California, and moved to Arizona, where I could devote myself to painting Southwest...

Denise LaRue Mahlke believes that being an artist is a calling that involves preserving, celebrating, and sharing in God’s creation. That’s one of the reasons she challenges herself to strive for excellence as a pastel painter and a teacher. by M. Stephen Doherty Morning Peace 2006, pastel...